RSS

Related Posts

Anwar al-Awlaki is the man behind the attempted Christmas day bombing and the failed Times Square bombing. He was also in contact with Maj. Nidal Hasan prior to the shooting at Ft. Hood. With Osama bin Laden dead, al-Awlaki is the leading contender to be his replacement. Today the Sun, a UK based paper, reported on a “sting operation” it undertook involving contact with al-Awlaki by email: FIRST, we obtained [...]...

Unlike the video of the little girl we’ve all seen, this does not appear to be several years ago: Here’s the description that goes with the clip: Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn’t set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn’t complete the full pat on the [...]...

We’re on the way to our first million hits! Can we make it by year’s end…Maybe. Meanwhile, we’re still shaking a few of the bugs out of the redesign. If you’re unable to comment, it may be that your browser isn’t set up to allow javascript to work. If there’s anything else that’s not working, you could try dropping us a line via the contact form. Thanks....

Is this sort of like a death wish? I think so. After asking if Jones is willing to die (like Martin Luther King Jr.) he suggests Jones fly to Afghanistan and try his protest there (about 4 minutes in): Clearly the imam thinks Jones wouldn’t last long in Afghanistan, but he doesn’t seem embarrassed by that. He almost seems proud of it. What happened to peaceful Islam? Is this an [...]...

CBS’ Charles Cooper on the Van Jones resignation: The White House announced the news in the early hours of Sunday morning. In a statement, Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, thanked Jones “for his valuable contributions to the Council on Environmental Quality. Over the last six months he has been a strong voice for creating 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable [...]...

This appears to be relatively new. It was just uploaded four days ago and I can only assume the Oakland he’s talking about is the crackdown on Occupy Oakland a few weeks ago. How that connects to Baghdad I’m not exactly sure: I actually think Van Jones is sort of a smart, eloquent guy. But what the hell is he talking about? Occupiers have been camping out in public parks [...]...

So if things seem a little weird or wonky today, that’s because last night we switched over to our new server. It was a bit of a PITA, frankly, mostly because we’ve never dealt with VPN before. Hopefully we’ll have the bugs ironed out in a couple days. Be patient with us. The good news is this setup should be much, much more robust. That means no more outages (like [...]...

A shorter version of this clip has already made the rounds…Van Jones himself re-tweeted it last week. I wondered why they didn’t post the whole thing and managed to track down a clip from someone who did. They say our message is not clear. We tell them our morals are. These bankster look down on us. They say that we should be rich like them. But everyone would be broke [...]...

I’m beginning to think this Van Jones character is a bit of a radical. The following is excerpted from an email composed by Jones in December 2001, and distributed to a network of “progressive” activists in the aftermath of 9/11 (other links here and here). Let me say at the outset that this all strikes me as pretty sound legal advice – if you are advising a network of violent, radical activists. Read on (emphasis mine below):

Let’s be smart during this period. Please follow these guidelines:

1. Remember that you have the right NOT to talk to any FBI agent or police officer at all for any reason. If agents drop by unexpectedly, you have the right to tell them that you refuse to talk to them without a lawyer. You have the right to ask them to leave and the right to tell them to contact your attorney (Diana Frappier at XXX-XXX-XXXX). If an agent calls and asks for an interview, you have the right to tell him/her to contact your lawyer (Diana). In general, FBI agents are smooth-talking, well-dressed lawyers who are good at getting people to talk to them. But remember: it is your right NOT to do so, without a lawyer.

2. From now on, do not say or do anything that would indicate that you are advocating, supporting, condoning or initiating violence against anyone for any reason. Even in private. Even as a “joke.” And “joking” about such things on or near telephones, or via email, is especially foolhardy.

3. Ask yourself, “Are there things I am doing in my life right now that could put me in a compromising situation, either legally or ethically? Am I doing anything that I would not want on the front page of the SF Chronicle or the NY Times?” Now would be a good time to stop doing those things, and to take all prudent steps to clean up any lingering messes.

4. Ask yourself, “Are there unresolved conflicts or closed lines of communications that separate me from other activists?” Now would be a good time to repair those relationships and sew things back up. Unresolved hostilities are the breeding ground for slander and disruption campaigns that pit activists against each other – at the worst possible times.

In the meantime, we must continue with our work. In fact, one of the main dangers in the new period is that we will over-react to this news, succumb to our hidden fears and feelings of intimidation – and then spread panic and paralysis among ourselves. That’s called: doing the Man’s work for him.

So let’s not go out like some bustas. Just know and exercise your rights. And never let ‘em see you sweat.

Thank you for your time and attention. Let’s keep working for the people.

Van

I would probably be more inclined to cut Jones some slack on this if he was conveying this message in the capacity of legal counsel. But he wasn’t. He was the Executive Director of the primary organization he was addressing – the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. (The full email makes this clear.) And regardless, is it even arguable that someone who headed up an activist organization where it was necessary to advise staff and other followers against cooperating with authorities and “advocating, supporting, condoning or initiating violence”…”from now on”…is probably not someone you want working in the White House?